Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Oatman History: A trip into the past

Author Jackie Rowland-Murray, president of the Oatman Historical Society and vice president of the Arizona Historical Route 66 Association, gave a talk highlighting some of Oatman’s most colorful historic moments on Saturday at the Laughlin Library. “I’ve spent so much time researching the area’s history, I’d feel bad if I didn’t use what I’ve learned,” Rowland-Murray said. “I enjoy all of it.” (DK McDONALD/The Daily News)

By DK McDONALD
Mohave Valley Daily News

LAUGHLIN — For some, history is the chronicle of a society’s evolution. For others, history is blueprint for the future.

“I get upset when schools don’t teach history,” said historian and author Jackie Rowland-Murray. “If you don’t know what the history is, it is going to repeat big-time and not in a good way.”

President of the Oatman Historical Society and vice president of the Arizona Historical Route 66 Association,
Rowland-Murray spoke on some of Oatman’s most colorful historic moments Saturday at the Laughlin Library.

Rowland-Murray’s 90-minute presentation traced Oatman’s history from the first known contact with Native people by Spanish Franciscan friar Francisco Garces, to its birth in the early 1800s to the present day. With emphasis on events such as the Oatman Massacre and the kidnapping of Olive Oatman, Rowland-Murray also related stories of the Rose-Bailey Massacre, Beale’s road expedition on the 35th Parallel and the region’s gold mines that produced $40 million in gold.

“I’ve heard her speak before,” said Elsie Needles, president of the Colorado River Historical Society and Museum. “She wrote a great book on the history of Oatman. She is so knowledgeable and a really good speaker.”

The public history lesson was presented in partnership with the Colorado River Historical Society and Museum. Rowland-Murray, the author of “Oatman: History, Recipes & Ghost Stories,” said she enjoys sharing history for its own sake.

“I’ve spent so much time researching the area’s history, I’d feel bad if I didn’t use what I’ve learned,” she said. “It’s information that just begs to be shared.”

Rowland-Murray‘s research has resulted in a variety of subjects to present, she said. Including the Oatman history lecture, she offers presentations on how women lived in the 1800s, on Olive Oatman’s life, and two presentations on the “Strong women of the Colorado River,” split between women from Yuma to this area of Mohave County, and northern women, covering women from the Grand Canyon to the northern state line.

“I also have a presentation solely on mining,” said Rowland-Murray. “That one made me nervous, because the first time I presented it was to a room full of prospectors.”

The mining stories are her favorite to relate, she said.

“Mining in Oatman is a real interesting story,” Rowland-Murray said. “It had huge effects on the area, the state and the whole world.”

The presentation didn’t stop with the camels, the burros, the gold or the massacres. Rowland-Murray made the connections between Oatman’s history and the present day.

“Oatman sees more than 400,000 visitors every year, some tracing the history of Route 66 and some who want to see a bit of the Old West,” Rowland-Murray said. “Oatman has never legally been designated a town, although during its heyday it boasted a population between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Oatman is classified as a roadside attraction which makes it difficult to get some things done.”

The 2000 census found 128 residents in Oatman.

“We’re different,” Rowland-Murray said. “It’s a small and quiet community. There is no grocery store. There is no school. There’s no gas station, either, although a couple guys keep extra 5-gallon cans in their backyards in case of an emergency. We like to say, ‘If you need it, we don’t have it.’ But people are drawn here. It has a rich history. It’s interesting.”